The Missing Piece
by CopperCorgi
Summary: Ayanokouji and Kei have something the other wants leading to them deepening their relationship. There is some OOC though.
1. Chapter 1

_Hey guys, this is my first complete fanfic, so it's bound to have many flaws so please don't mob me. Fun fact, I actually started this around last year, but I never got to finishing as I kept scrapping ideas and chapters. I hope you enjoy my efforts, if you don't oh well, I tried. There'll probably some out of character stuff but hey this is a fanfic. Well then, without further ado, here's the first chapter of "The Missing Piece"._

**Chapter 1**

The mixed training camp had just ended and nobody from class D (or now C) was negatively impacted. Aside from Nagumo's plot against class 3-A, it had gone without a hitch. It had gone without a hitch, yet there was something troubling Karuizawa Kei-her partner. From across the bus that was carrying the class back to the school, she couldn't help but look at the cause of her feelings with a longing expression.

In the middle of the night, he'd climbed to her windowsill and took her by the hand to a place where nobody could see them...or so she wished. In actuality, reality was far duller. Business. THAT WAS IT. In the only encounters they had, all they talked about was business as usual. Would it hurt for him to be a little considerate towards her? A tired sigh escaped from her lips.

She was being unreasonable. There was a lot at stake if they had met for no reason whatsoever, but it couldn't hurt to hope. Longing for another chance to be with him, she kept her gaze glued on Kiyotaka while he stared off into the scenery behind the window.

How had things turned out this way?

It felt like just the other day that he was just another faceless member of the class. His only worth had been as Horikita's messenger and he didn't stand out whatsoever. He was exceedingly average. Focused solely on protecting herself she'd paid him no mind, and that was how it played out until the Zodiac Test. By sheer chance she was placed into a group with him, and then by a series of what could only be called coincidences, she'd witnessed his true ability. In exchange for his protection she'd followed his orders with complete obedience, and everything had gone well, until she received that single message.

To meet Ryuuen on the roof was all it had said. It was a trap; one she couldn't get out of it. Ryuuen knew about her. To protect her status, she did what the message said so she went to clear things up but there was no room for discussion on the table. Once again, she'd been pulled into a world of pain and hurt. Ganged up on, she was beaten. Pinned to the floor, water on the brink of freezing was poured onto her by the bucketful while the roaring wind drove the temperature further down. She shivered and howled in pain, but they didn't seem to care. Writhing in pain, cold gazes looked down at her pitiful state as they continued their efforts to extract a single name from her.

With nobody to turn to, it didn't take long for her to stop resisting and wait for it to come to an end. A long while later she began to meet their demands. As she began to utter his name, her mouth closed shut. No, she wouldn't stay the weak girl she'd always been. She continued to rebel. Even though she'd never been rescued before, she held hope that he would come to save her. At that moment the door swung open and her prayers had been answered. Kiyotaka had come for her.

She could only watch in awe as he overpowered everyone on the roof. With every blow he received, she winced and with every blow he landed strange warmth rose within her. When the intense battle had ended, all the members of class C lay on the ground defeated and he alone was left standing. Using all her strength she dragged her limp body towards him until her feet gave out beneath her. As she fell, she braced for the impact with the cold ground, but she'd landed on something soft instead. Looking up, violet eyes met brown. He'd caught her. Her body lay limp in his arms, but she no longer felt cold. Taking her in his arms, he apologized and renewed his promised. No matter what, he'd always continue to rescue her. From the outside, it would sound like a cliché and overused line, but she knew it was genuine.

As if she'd clicked a reset button, her life changed. Everything was finally how she'd always wanted it to be, normal. No longer worried about her secrets, she was able to live, and it was all because of him. He'd done so much for her, there was no way she could live without him. This feeling, it wasn't dependence she felt towards him, it was different. From making eye contact to receiving a message, every interaction she had with him thereafter made that different feeling grow. By the time it was winter she'd realized what that feeling was-love. She'd hopelessly fallen for him. From afar he seemed like he didn't care for anyone, but she knew she wasn't just some girl to him.

He had said it before, but she was the only person in the school, and quite possibly the entire world, who knew his true self. He didn't choose Sakura or Horikita, he chose her and her alone to reveal himself. A secret only the two shared.

Reminiscing about the past, a beautiful smile showed itself on Kei's face. Realizing she was still in the bus embarrassment ran across her face and she turned to face the window. She'd completely fallen for him, yet there was still something else lingering in her heart-sadness. Was peeking at him from afar all she could do?

She wanted more, so much more.

A spot right by his side reserved only for her, his attention whenever she wanted it, and a relationship far deeper than just classmates. She wanted to be only his and for him to be only hers, a wish she very well knew was impossible.

Ayanokouji Kiyotaka only wished to have a normal life and would do anything he could to achieve that goal. Be it Ryuuen or even the Student Council President, he wouldn't let anybody would get in his way, not even her. If she were to be his lover, suspicion would fall onto him. Questions such as why the two got together or what caused the development between the two would arise. If people started to investigate into the matter and his actions were discovered, everything he worked for would be ruined. All because of her. At this point, her existence would lose all value to him and if he deemed it necessary, she'd be discarded. She couldn't lose him. Not now when she needed him most, but there was nothing she could do.

Her expression grew troubled. Afraid someone would notice; she laid her head on the window beside her and stared off into the ever-changing scenery. Reluctantly she compressed her feelings into a ball and hid it inside herself. It was pitiful, but it was all she could do to avoid getting hurt. Staring off into the darkness she let her expression grow cloudy unaware that a pair of eyes had seen the whole process. Eyes belonging to none other than Ayanokouji Kiyotaka.

†

Ayanokouji Kiyotaka, was an outlier amongst humans. He possessed knowledge many never learned in the entirety of their lives and strength that far exceeded that of any normal person. However, at the cost of becoming what seemed to be the perfect human, he had lost his emotions. Trust, friendship and even love were alien to him, but he was curious. He wanted to know therefore he observed.

Ever since he'd escaped from the white room, he had been watching. Watching how people acted around strangers, acquaintances, best friends, families, and lovers. He wanted to know how it felt to be able to fully confide in someone as best friends did, he wanted to know how to act around people he considered friends implicitly and explicitly, but most of all he wanted to know love.

Love was the most complex emotion of them all but because of that very complexity he wanted to learn more about it. Each time he gazed a couples from afar he felt something warm exuding from them. It was a strange feeling, but he didn't have it in himself to reject the feeling. It was warm, very comfortably so. How would it feel if that were me? He'd often ask himself but brush away soon after. Even if he thought about it, he couldn't answer that question. By his upbringing, he was incapable of such a feeling. Nevertheless, he wished to know.

It was a rather strange wish, but even he wanted to understand even the most basic of human emotions. While these emotions flooded his thoughts, his eyes happened to fall onto Kei who also seemed to be having troubles. Her face had a complex expression, one that was hard to decipher. What is she feeling right now? He asked himself. He thought and thought about it, but he didn't...no... he couldn't answer. Startled by the sound of metal screeching against metal he was pulled from his thoughts. Looking through the front windows of the bus, the school appeared in his sights.

†

A lone moon covered in a blanket of deep blue peered down at the bus as it slowed to a halt in front of the school. One by one the students exited the bus with their belongings and after a final roll call, they were dismissed.

Letting out a great big yawn as she stretched her arms over her head, Karuizawa headed straight for her room while waving goodbye to her groupies. Inserting her key into the lock, she opened the door to her room where she fell onto her bed.

The lights off and her school uniform still on, she simply lay exhausted. Several minutes had passed when she got up again. Setting the water to hot, she took a shower like usual then changed into something more comfortable. Dressed in her nightwear she brushed her teeth as she walked out of the bathroom and put her clothes away. A loud gargle signaled she was finished brushing her teeth. Exiting the bathroom for the last time of the night she saw a flicker of light on the bed. Walking over to the bed she opened her phone, wondering what it could be. A few swipes and taps later she saw a message from the chat only she knew existed.

_Meet me at 6 tomorrow morning_ it said along with some directions on how to get there.

This was unusual. He never messaged her this late, it was nearly 12 after all.

_What's this about._ She sent back.

_Just be there, it's important_

"Mou~. What does he want so early in the morning?" She complained.

Replying back affirmatively she let out a sigh. At the very least he could wish her good night or something. Planting her face in a pillow, she rolled around her bed for a bit before finally going to sleep but not before she erased all records of the conversation.

BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZT

At the sound of her alarm, her eyes unwillingly opened. It was 5:15 am on a Saturday, not the best start to her weekend. Lifting herself up from the bed, she quickly got ready. Wearing black shorts that stopped halfway down her thighs and a white V-neck with sleeves, she put her hair back with a hair tie and left the dorm.

Several minutes later she was finally able to see the meeting place. She'd gotten lost a few times, but she'd made it. Wearing a plain white shirt under a black jacket and sweats, Kiyotaka was sitting on a bench underneath a streetlight. Walking the last few feet to the bench, she sat down beside him.

"Kya!" She shrieked as she shot up from the bench where she was to sit.

It was ice cold. Kiyotaka stared at her as she tried warming up her exposed legs by rubbing her hands against them. She regretted not checking the weather, she should have covered up more. While she continued rubbing the spot on her thighs where her skin touched the cold steel, he laid his jacket where she had tried to sit earlier.

"Huh?"

She stared at his jacket with a puzzled look. It couldn't be. She sat down once again beside him, but not too close.

"So? Why'd you call me out here?" She asked flatly.

"Yesterday on the bus you looked troubled. No matter how hard I thought about it, I couldn't understand why you were upset. Would you mind telling me?" He said with a hint of emotion.

WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT

Her face flushed bright red at his words. Kiyotaka, that emotionless Kiyotaka who didn't seem to care about anything, was concerned about her?! No, there was no way this could be possible. He'd never act out of emotions; all his actions were planned out.

Since she didn't answer he turned his head and looked her dead in the eye.

"Are you troubled?" He asked.

His eyes were serious. He was actually concerned about her. A gentle warmth bubbled up from her belly and made its way to her cheeks.

"Yeah..." She muttered softly.

She hadn't intended to answer him, but his honest question had gotten the better of her.

"...but it's nothing to worry about. If I keep to myself it'll be okay. You don't have to worry about it." She said forcing a smile while frantically waving her hands around.

_This is how it should be. This is more than enough._ She thought to herself. This wasn't worth ruining for her own desires.

"Kei, why're you lying?" Her eyes widened as the sudden question tore right through the front she'd put up. She quickly turned her head and faced him with a bewildered expression.

How did he know?

"W-what do you mean?" She said with a laugh as fake as her words were fabricated.

"I've been around you long enough to know when you're lying." His words told no lies. After everything they've been through it would only make sense that he could tell these things, even if she didn't.

"If you're ever troubled, you can always tell me you know." He wore an expression so honest; it tore her apart. She wanted to dive into his arms and tell him everything as he told her everything would be alright, that he had a plan. But everything wouldn't be alright though.

"I'll come and save you." The moment her ears picked up those sweet words, she felt something snap inside her.

"I-I can't!" Tears rushed up around her eyes. _Don't press any further _her eyes silently begged. There'd be no telling what would happen if he continued pushing for an answer. She couldn't lose this too.

"Does it have something to do with me?" He asked simply, unaware that he'd hit the nail on the head.

"No." She lied.

"Would it be better if I stopped seeing you?"

"..."

"I see." Lifting himself from the seat, he grabbed his jacket from beneath her and began walking away.

NO

"WAIT!" Stumbling off the bench, she quickly rose and grabbed the hem of his shirt.

"Don't go." She said staring at him with watery eyes.

"Why not? It seems like you'd be much better off without me, yet you tell me to stay. I ask what's troubling you and you stay silent. I don't understand why you're doing this." He confessed as he turned his head to the side.

"bec…. I…. you" She'd mumbled something, but he didn't catch it.

"What?!" He asked.

"BECAUSE I LOVE YOU!" She cried out, tears clinging to her cheeks.

"DO I NEED ANY OTHER REASON BESIDES THAT?" She shouted in the same manner.

"I didn't want to trouble you so I kept my feelings inside myself for as long as I could, but they kept on growing. They just kept on growing. Each day was harder than the last, but I kept it in." Tears began running down her eyes, but she continued.

"I didn't want you to throw me away, but I couldn't help how I felt about you. I-I need you." She whimpered as tears splashed onto the ground.

All of his life Ayanokouji Kiyotaka had thought of himself as a smart man. The white room had given him abilities that went beyond comprehension but at this moment he comprehends Kei's actions. From his standpoint she was doing the one thing she shouldn't-endangering herself. If someone happened to see what was occurring, there would be consequences. People may just think something had happened between us during the break and simply gossip, however that was in the best case. In the worst she could lose what little support she had should anyone dig up their past actions. It was such a risky move to make yet she had done just that. What could have compelled Kei to risk her safety for a human relation? Unlike any other problem he'd ever had, Kiyotaka was dumbfounded.

"I can't understand your feelings of love. They don't make sense." He blurted out.

In the past he had thought that getting away from his father would be enough for him, but that was wrong. He too had a desire. To love and make himself whole was his only wish. If this wasn't his only chance to have that wish granted, he didn't know what was.

"But I won't reject you. I can't. I too...want to fall in love." He said with the sincerest voice he could manage to make.

_I too want to fall in love. I too want to fall in love. I too want to fall in love._ His words played themselves like broken record in her head. She didn't deserve this. Wiping the tears with her sleeve she jumped into his, tackling him to the ground.

He hadn't rejected her feelings even though they may hinder him, he accepted them, but most importantly he needed her. Not Airi or Horikita, it was only her. Slowly her fists slowed to a halt. She'd suffered so much for so long because of her emotions and it was all because of him, but now they could all come to an end. As the all the pain she'd stored inside of herself let itself out in the form of tears, he rubbed her back. Placing her head to his chest she cried and cried until she could no more.

As the last tear fell from her puffy eyes, she nestled herself into a more comfortable position of his chest. While she lay with her face in his shirt, she was suddenly enveloped in his jacket soon after his arms followed and wrapped themselves around Kei. A smile and a blush appeared across her face. As always, he'd taken her hand in the middle of a crisis. Being with him made her feel good. Seconds turned into minutes as they lay in each other's warmth.

After few minutes she'd finally calmed herself. She wanted to stay like this forever, but she knew she couldn't. The risk of anyone seeing them like this was large, and they both knew it. Satisfied with what had happened she was ready to go back. Removing her hands from around him, she got up and out of his embrace. Inserting her arms through his jacket, she wiped her face with its sleeves.

"As punishment for making me cry, I'm keeping this." She said sticking her tongue out as she jerked her thumb at the jacket on her back to Kiyotaka who was still on the ground. Just as she seemed to be walking away, she did a complete 180 and placed a tender kiss on his lips.

As she enjoyed the soft sensation of her lips on his, time came to a stop. As soon as she ran out of breath, the wheels of time started spinning again and she broke away from his lips then dashed off.

He opened his mouth briefly but soon closed it. The sun began to peek out of the clouds and a ray landed on his face uncovering a very small hint of red that he'd hidden across his face. He got up from the bench and was hit with a gust of wind.

Chills ran down his spine. His drenched shirt had brought on the full force of the wind, he missed his jacket.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Two knocks sounded outside the door.

"Coming!" A jubilant voice inside shouted and the door swung open revealing Hirata who was still in his pajamas.

"Ayanokouji-kun, what brings you here?" Hirata asked with a surprised look.

"I have a favor to ask."

Receiving a nod from Hirata, Ayanokouji entered his room and the door closed behind him. Twenty minutes later the door opened again and Ayanokouji walked out as if nothing had happened.

"You can count on me, Ayanokouji-kun." Hirata said with a beaming smile as he waved farewell to Ayanokouji.

Sunday morning everyone from class 1-C saw a message show up on their phone.

_Hey guys, I was thinking that you guys might be a little tired after these recent events, so I decided to plan a little Trial of Courage. Of course, you are free to decline, some of you might be busy. However, if you do want to foster bonds between one another please send me a message so that I can prepare accordingly._

Guys and girls alike felt a rush of excitement as they read the message. The majority of the girls and even some of the guys, Yamauchi and Ike, instantly replied saying they'd love to go.

From his room, Sudou quickly messaged Horikita.

_Suzune, you coming to the trial? _He asked eagerly.

_No, _the reply came instantly.

_Come on, it'll be fun_. He wasn't going to let this chance go.

_No, there's no merit in me going. Don't ask again._ Gray clouds loomed over his head. However, a mini date was with her was on the line, but before he could attempt to do anything a message came from Suzune.

_If you ask again, I'll revoke your right to call me by my given name._

Sudou staggered back and fell to the floor. She'd dealt the final blow. Laying on the floor dejected, he decided texted Ike to come over to his room. Ike was good at helping Sudou vent even if it was often involuntary.

_Any of you going? _The notification appeared in the chat belonging to the Ayanokouji group.

One by one each member's avatar popped up in the chat. Each member looked at the question posed by Haruka with a different expression.

_No. I have other things to do._ Keisei's response came quickly and curtly.

_I'll probably go. Are you going Haruka?_ Akito asked in turn.

_Yeah, I only hope I get paired with someone that isn't the Yamauchi and Ike sort. They're kind of, you know._ Haruka replied honestly.

_Yeah, they're a little too open about their thirst. I hope we both get good partners._ Akito agreed.

While Kiyotaka quietly read the incoming messages between Akito and Haruka, he received a private message from Airi.

_Are you going Kiyotaka-kun?_

_Yeah, I've got nothing better to do. _He replied honestly.

_Then I guess I'll go as well. _She responded.

_If you feel uncomfortable about going, then you shouldn't force yourself to go. _Kiyotaka warned.

_I'll be fine as long as I get paired with the right person. _

After she sent that, a yes from Airi came from the chat. It didn't take long until Kiyotaka did as well. A few minutes later he got a message from Hirata concerning further details.

Vibrations buzzed from Ayanokouji's phone. Quickly turning off the alarm he'd set earlier, he looked at the time that displayed on his phone. 7:40pm. Lifting himself from his bed, Kiyotaka began to get ready for the event.

8:00 pm-everyone had gathered at the meeting spot-a field beside a tall concrete building-and were eagerly chatting about the fun to come. Kiyotaka drifted to a corner of the field free of people and waited for the coordinator to come. As he scanned the room, his eyes happened to contact Kei's._ Why are you here? _Her large eyes and surprised expression seemed to ask. _Just cuz,_ he replied back with a shrug. After the exchange which had only lasted a few moments, Kei looked away. Putting his back to a fence he looked around the crowd. Neither Sudou nor Horikita were in attendance. The former most likely due to the latter's absence. On the other hand, Yamauchi and Ike looked ecstatic, Haruka was right about their "needs". Over by another corner of the field, the aforementioned girl and Akito were casually chatting away. As he continued searching through the field a small voice called out to him.

"Kiyotaka-kun?" Kiyotaka looked over to his side to see Airi fidgeting nervously.

"Good to see you here." He replied.

"You too. There's a lot of people here huh?" Airi said as she looked over at what seemed to be nearly the whole class.

"Yeah, looks like Kouenji didn't attend huh?" Kiyotaka answered.

"That's pretty normal. Anyway, I wonder what we're going to be doing. I'm not too good with scary stuff but if it's you…I wouldn't...mind going." She replied back while trailing off near the end.

CLAP

The rather loud clap came from the front of the field. As soon as they recognized Hirata as its source and quickly quieted down the students.

"Thank you all for coming. I'm sure you've all been waiting so let's start."

In front of Hirata were two baskets much like those seen on picnics. One had a blue ribbon tied to it and the other had a red bow.

"Now then. Guys, please line up single file in front of the basket with the bow and girls do the same with the blue ribbon. You'll each grab a slip of paper but don't break the sticker seal until everyone has picked a paper"

Clothes rustled as everyone came together into two lines in front of Hirata. Seeing that nobody had been left behind, Hirata demonstrated what to do and chose a slip of paper as his own from the basket in front of the boys, then allowed the two lines to take slips all the while checking for any sort of gimmicks.

On Kiyotaka's turn, he reached for the basket but before he could grab a slip he was stopped.

"Ayanokouji-kun, I'm so glad you came. Thank you for helping me out earlier." Hirata said with a smile as he took Kiyotaka's hand just before it entered the basket and shook it as if he were an old friend. After Hirata's hand separated from his, something remained in Kiyotaka's palm. A slip of paper. Looking back at Hirata, Hirata responded with a slight nod. Placing the slip in his pocket he waited for the rest of the students to finish up.

Once the last person had gone, Hirata instructed everyone to break the seals on their slips and had everyone follow the directions on their papers. Their partners would be doing the same thing as them and that was how they were to meet. Kiyotaka opened up his slip with little effort and quickly read his instruction.

_Good luck with Kei!_

Reading the tease from Hirata, he pocketed the paper. Now he just needed to find his "random" partner. While he scanned the area for her a few things caught Kiyotaka's eye. Haruka and Akito were both walking very awkwardly. He couldn't tell at first but eventually he realized they were trying to walk like what should have been robots. They'd be a good pair, but beside them was a black to white contrast. Ike was rolling on the ground and Yamauchi was posing as if he was going to propose both letting their excitement show in the form of eyes that seemed starved and a smile that could be considered creepy at the very least. Kiyotaka let out a sigh as he prayed for their partners. A few feet from the disastrous duo was Airi who was frantically looking for her partner.

"Boo" A sweet voice whispered into his ear. It probably had the intention of scaring him unfortunately he'd been more than aware of the individual who now stood back to back with him.

"You're really no fun aren't you. You did this didn't you?" Kei asked, as she handed him her paper.

_Have fun lover girl_

Hirata must have had fun making their papers.

"Who knows." He answered.

"I see. Well, I'm not too good with scary things. Stuff tends to surface." She said somberly as she tugged the hem of his jacket. Kiyotaka knew exactly what she meant. "You better not leave me inside; I'll break your knees if you do." She said while pinching his back with her free hand.

"Noted. You might want to maintain some distance out here though. We shouldn't be seen so close together in public..." Kei's lips turned into a frown with a dark expression.

"At least not yet." He finished.

Her frown vanished and Kei's eyes lit up. "Not yet," he'd said.

"All right guys now that you've all found your partners, line up in pairs," Hirata said with a loud voice that spurred Kei to quickly move away from Kiyotaka's back.

"I'll be handing you guys a map. Make sure to follow it. I'll go with my partner once the last group enters." Hirata said as he handed the first group-Haruka and Akito-their map. Haruka teasingly poked Akito in the ribs before she headed inside the building first.

Several minutes later, their turn came, and Hirata handed them a map. Staring at his watch, Hirata held the two at bay for a minute.

"Okay, you guys should be good to go." Hirata said with a wink. Taking the lead Kiyotaka walked into building with Kei not too far behind.

The concrete building was as dull as the gray matter that made up its foundations. It's inner and outer walls were colored with about as much color as a state prison, and there wasn't so much as a chair in any of the rooms. In the past this was probably going to a new residence hall but apparently the architect who designed it hadn't accounted for the lack of talent in the construction team which led to numerous complications in the construction. After a certain point so much money had been spent correcting safety violations that there was no point in completing the building. For this reason, there were no windows or even a roof on the third floor. However, this did make it a good location for tests of courage. It was utterly decrepit, and the placement of the openings for the windows that were never installed made creepy sounds.

All of this, however, didn't seem to bother Ayanokouji. Following the map, he turned right at the second hallway while Kei trailed behind him. As they made a turn, Kei tried taking the lead and cut off Ayanokouji. Her false bravery was quickly shattered as the first thing she saw was a rat with fur as dark as the night sky and a figure the size of a softball.

KYAAAAAAA

Her shrill scream alerted the rat and it ran towards Kei with hostile intent. Baring its teeth, the gap between the two was quickly closed. The rat leaped towards Kei's exposed legs. Just before the rat contacted her, an immense force flung it to the wall headfirst. It yelped in pain then scurried away behind the two.

"You really saved me there" She said looking at him with awe.

"Do you want to stop here?" He asked.

"I'll be fine, but can you do me favor?" Staring into her eyes, her fear was evident but even, so her resolve was far more impressive.

"Sure" As soon as he said that, her hand made its way into his.

She beamed him a cute smile "Much better."

"Let's get going then" with those words, the two continued their journey within the building.

The premise of the challenge was to essentially go to a room that would have things to scare you with from which you would move to the next room. The first room contained a jump scare with cutouts, but it only made Kei flinch while Kiyotaka was unfazed. The second door had the same response from the two.

AAAAAAAAAH

The final room spooked the daylights out of Kei. She quickly walked out and breathed a sigh of relief that it was over. She was still gripping onto his hand tightly, but Kei had remained calm through the bulk of it.

After allotting a few minutes to allow Kei to recover from the last room, the two began to make their way back. In front of them was a staircase that led to a dimly lit exit. Unfortunately, it was only big enough for only one person to go down at a time. Slowly Kei removed her hand from his and eagerly went down the stairs first. Blinded by her desire to leave she didn't notice what laid below her.

On the second step from the top three cockroaches were scuttling around. She only realized this mid-step. Immediately she changed the trajectory of her foot but unable to get a secure foothold, her foot slipped, and she fell down the staircase. The whole process had taken only a few seconds, Kiyotaka wasn't able to react in time to prevent it.

Rushing down the staircase he saw Kei laying on her back gasping for air. After going through the entire trial of courage, this was the only thing that had come close to bringing him fear. Kei's eyes looked over to Kiyotaka's and she tried saying something but despite her lips moving, nothing came out. Her right foot, the one she'd taken the first step with had was red near where the ankle region, she wouldn't be able to walk back to the exit. Judging from the length of staircase, she was having trouble breathing because the impact knocked the wind out of her. Kneeling by her side he looked for other injuries and was glad to see there was nothing else. Going closer to Kei, he lifted her in the arms making sure to support her back. Despite the cold, she felt warm, comfortably so. Her hair smelled like citrus and her blue eyes sparkled like diamonds as they gazed into his.

Carrying her like a princess, he walked to the exit careful not to bump into anything. As he stepped out of the building, moonlight blinded him. Once his eye readjusted to the light, he saw the gazes of his classmates on him. Darting her eyes around at all of the people, Kei's face turned red out of embarrassment, but even so, she enjoyed the warmth of being cradled by him. As if the countless eyes meant nothing to him, Kiyotaka carried her to Hirata who had come running as soon as they'd exited.

"I think she twisted her ankle," Kiyotaka said to Hirata once he'd arrived.

"That's terrible, how could this have happened? Karuizawa-san, are you in any pain?" Hirata asked with a concerned look.

"N-" Before she could deny it, Kiyotaka poked the swollen area eliciting a whimper of pain from her.

"I'll take her to the nurse in the dorm." Kiyotaka said, turning to the dorms.

"Sorry Ayanokouji-kun for making you do all this. I'll be right over once I'm finished here," Hirata said while looking over at the last groups who had yet to enter the building.

Nodding, Kiyotaka left for the dorm with Kei in his arms. While he walked Kei kept quiet. At first, she felt incredibly embarrassed but then she began to wonder how he'd been carrying her all this time without even readjusting once. Normally people readjusted their arms when carrying something heavy, but he'd been walking dead ahead without so much as breaking a sweat. Where did all this strength come from. Halfway through the walk, Kiyotaka broke the silence.

"How're you holding up?" Kiyotaka asked while facing forward.

"My back and right foot hurt, a lot." She said softly.

"Sorry. I couldn't catch you in time." He said.

"No, that was my bad. I got ahead of myself and didn't look where I was going." She quickly said trying to redirect the blame to her.

"True, I didn't expect you to take the lead after you were clinging to me for the entirety of the trial." Kiyotaka teased.

Kei punched him in the chest.

"Ow"

"Hmph, like you know anything about taking the lead." She said with a pout.

"Yeah, yeah. Anyways we're nearing the dorm so I'm going to need to let you down to get my keycard." He said looking at the dorm that was only a few meters away.

"Nope! You have to get in while carrying me. That's what you get for teasing." Kei stated fully aware of the heat flushing her face.

Kiyotaka let out a sigh. Juggling her body with an arm and his knee, he pulled out his keycard from his back pocket and then went back to the original position. Swiping his card, he walked to the elevator.

"Hey, wrong way. You're going to take the stairs." Even Kei was surprised at the words she was saying.

"Hey, hey. Give me a break, I'm sorry." He said while gazing at the staircase.

"No!" Kei knew she was being unreasonable but if even for only a second longer, she wanted to be in the arms that made her pain feel like a memory. This moment gave her an excuse to be able to exactly that.

PANT PANT

Kiyotaka turned around to see Keisei drenched in sweat and breathing for dear life. His physical inability. Noticing the oddity in front of him Keisei tried to catch his breath.

"Kiyotaka...what... why" He said in between breaths.

"She got hurt at the event, so Hirata told me to take her back." He replied honestly.

Keisei being either satisfied or tired, didn't ask further, despite his fatigue he stood up straight and jogged to the stairs while breathing heavily. Seeing his resolve, Kei felt a bit ashamed at her reason for taking the stairs.

"Let's just take the elevator." She finally decided.

"Agreed'

The nurse who took care of the students in the dorm was on the second floor in the room directly to the right of the elevator. Placing her onto a bed, he told the nurse what had happened, and she began to get the necessary items while he waited at Kei's bedside. Soon after, the nurse came and patched her up. Kei would be spending the night in the infirmary so as to not worsen the injury. Taking that as his cue to leave, Kiyotaka got up from his seat.

"Thank you..." Like nectar to his ears, those genuine words nested themselves in his eardrums, stopping him in his tracks. Immediately after a soft sensation placed itself on his hand and nestled itself in-between his fingers.

"...would it be possible for you to stay with me?" The words along with her puppy dog eyes and her hand in his made a great temptation.

"Sorry. I can't." This was too soon; someone would notice something.

"No, don't worry about it. I was being selfish. Thanks again."

"Anytime." With that word, the long night came to an end and gave birth to a new step in their relationship but not without a cost.

†

"Hey what happened in there?" It was the tenth time someone had asked him that.

As if he were a criminal, countless students had him interrogated. Denying them of the answers they wanted, Kiyotaka spent the following week dodging questions. Kei, just like him had her fair share of trouble with the girls' questioning.

"Spill it, what happened afterward?" Matsushita asked, getting close to Kei.

"Nothing, he just took me back to the infirmary," Kei said, getting red.

"Why're you blushing? I knew something happened." Shinohara questioned. 

"Nothing happened I swear."

"Don't lie, we all saw how he was holding you. How did it feel being carried like a princess?" Matsushita asked with a smirk.

"If I had to describe it in a word, I guess I'd say reassuring. He didn't get scared at all. He was like a guard. Whenever I got scared, he was right there next to me. He didn't judge me at all for being scared or anything he just accepted me for who I was. I guess I felt safe. And then when I got hurt, he, you know, did that." She said with a happy but bashful smile.

Looking back up at her friends, none of them had anything to say. She'd said too much, even Satou was looking a bit red.

"Wow," Shinohara said.

"Do you like him?" Satou asked.

"What are you talking about? I-" Kei began.

"I'm serious Kei. You know how I feel about him. Do you like him?" She asked again.

The atmosphere of the conversation had chilled. The group knew that Satou had already been rejected, however none of them had seen this coming. They had all assumed she'd gotten over it. This wasn't the case. Taking all of this into consideration Kei decided to answer her honestly.

"Yeah." Looking back at Satou with an expression that rivaled hers, Kei stated her interest.

"I'm just telling you this because we're friends but he's mine. Lay off." Satou said, with a cold gaze.

Matsushita and Shinohara could feel the tension in the air.

"Don't be ridiculous Satou, Ayanokouji-kun isn't yours. He's going to be mine." Words coated with venom were thrown right back at Satou. Kei was serious.

"Well, it seems like you've made your choice, don't regret it," spat Satou.

Seeing the daggers each glared at the other, Matsushita and Shinohara pulled the friends turned enemies apart and would spend the rest of the day making sure they wouldn't come into contact again for the rest of the day.

At the same time a soft wail, barely audible, came from Airi. There was another girl gunning for Kiyotaka? Why hadn't she confessed on the ship? She'd had so much time but since she waited the competition exploded. Now the top of the girls-Karuizawa Kei, and the girl who'd had the first date with Kiyotaka-Satou Maya had entered the stage. Everything was falling apart. Just when she'd gotten on a first name basis with him, he had suddenly shot far away from her.

"What do I do?!" She screamed internally.

†

The following day Kiyotaka came to class only to see Airi fidgeting around the door. She looked like she had something to say but before she said it, she turned tail and ran back to her desk.

"Baka Baka Baka Baka!" Face down at her desk she silently cursed at herself for her ineptitude.

†

Lunchtime. Kiyotaka went to the cafeteria and bought food as usual and sat down by himself.

"Ayanokouji-kun, can I sit here?"

Kiyotaka looked up and to his right stood Satou. While he felt a little bad for Kei, he sat with Satou partially due to guilt for rejecting her.

Placing her food beside his, she sat right by him and gave a wink to a certain golden-haired girl across the room. Seeing this the golden-haired girl gripped her lunch tray with more force than necessary, nearly breaking it in the process. Sensing this Satou initiated conversation, she couldn't afford to pull out here.

"The last exam was pretty strange huh? The physical portion was pretty rough but I'm sure it went well for you right?"

"Yeah, it was rough though, especially for Keisei. He had a lot of trouble, but he pulled through in the end."

Remembering how Keisei had changed so much from the exam to the point where he had now started training, Kiyotaka felt proud of his friend and unknowingly let out a smile.

Satou saw her chance.

"Right! It was so hard! Especially in the first few days. The Zen portion and even the test portion weren't that bad compared to that marathon."

Happy that Ayanokouji was conversing with her Satou chirped away until lunch was over. Standing up she made sure she'd get this opportunity again.

"This was a lot of fun, I can come by again, tomorrow, can't I?"

This seemingly simple question was by no means simple. By puffing out her cheeks a bit and looking at him with puppy dog eyes in addition to the wording of the question, she'd given Ayanokouji no choice but to say yes.

"Y-yeah."

"Then see I'll see you here tomorrow as well!" She said energetically.

Unable to sit by Kiyotaka, Kei had sat with the other members of her group. As she was cleaning up, Kei felt a tap on her shoulder and looked up to see Satou walking with a smirk that was clearly meant for Kei. Rage boiled up inside Kei. Mad couldn't even begin to describe it. Satou wouldn't get away with this. Kiyotaka was Kei's and Kei's alone.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Sitting in her seat, Sakura quietly scribbled in a notebook paying no mind to her surroundings while the front of the room was becoming quite chatty. Satou, Karuizawa, and crew in particular were talking with an energy than shouldn't be allowed in the morning. Every so often in one of the groupies would sneak a glance at a certain someone. Pretending not to notice he would let out a yawn or rub his eyes.

"Having fun Kiyo-pon?" Sneaking up on him, a familiar face with a childish smile poked his cheek. Beside her, rubbing his temple in frustration, was another student who Kiyotaka also knew very well.

"Haruka and Akito huh. As you can see, I'm quite drained." He groaned, lifting his head.

"Kiyo-pon you should be happier; girls are competing to get at you. It's not exactly common, I mean look at Akito, still single."

"Ouch, you don't have to bring me into this." Akito replied with a slightly displeased.

"Speaking of this guy, Kiyo-pon did you know that Akito was a scaredy-cat? You should have heard him scream. His face was so funny, I totally forgot what we were doing.".

"Don't make things up!" He objected. "Kiyotaka, she's lying. You should have seen her when she noticed a spider crawling on her shoe, she-," Haruka swung her elbow towards his stomach but Akito stopped it the palm of his hand. "-immediately turned tail and ran only to end up getting lost. You have no idea how long it took me to find her." Akito explained while dodging blows from Haruka.

While the two played cat and mouse, Horikita walked in with Sudou nipping at her heels followed by Chabashira sensei. Her entrance signaled the start of class and then began the waste of a few hours he'd never regain.

At lunchtime, Satou quickly stole the seat beside Kiyotaka once again while Kei could only watch with anger. Careful to steer the topics away from Kei, Satou subtly increased their skin ship so that they sat nearly shoulder to shoulder. Once lunch ended, she casually closed with the same question as last time. Just like last time, there wasn't room for an answer aside from yes. Securing another opportunity to snag him away, she walked away with a victorious smile.

†

Two hours later classes had finally ended. Horikita made a quick exit while Sudou was putting his notebooks away. Unable to catch up with Horikita, Sudou grabbed the closest person to him, Yamauchi, and vented as usual.

Dreading the thought of being caught up in the aftermath, Kiyotaka picked up his bag and left the classroom. The fastest way to get to the dorms from the classroom was to take the exit under the stairs behind the classroom. From there you could walk around the building and head straight to the dorm. Since the exit was hidden under the darkness cast by the staircase, Kiyotaka was the only one who knew about it.

Going the same way he did, he passed under the staircase and reached for the door handle. His fingers had just fallen on the cold steel handle when an unknown forced sucked him to the side like a vacuum, and planted his back on the underside of the stairs.

Knitted brows and furious eyes glared at him.

"Kei what're you doing?"

Upon hearing his question, her eyebrows furrowed even further. Her hand grabbed his tie tightly and yanked his neck towards her so that only centimeters stood between their faces.

"What am I doing? WHAT'RE YOU DOING!?"

"..."

"You're letting Satou get close to you, and you ask me why?! Even though, EVEN THOUGH you already have me, you're acting as if you don't have a care in the world!" She said with her face inches away from his. Before he could reply back, she let go of his tie and averted her eyes.

The violent hurricane had subsided and now there only remained a pair of sad eyes and a quiet voice. "It's like you don't care as much as I do."

"Sorry."

"Well, 'sorry' isn't good enough!" She turned to leave.

"Wait!" He grabbed her hand.

"WHAT?!" She shouted angrily.

"I'm sorry. I mean it." He spoke firmly as he stared into her angry eyes.

"I didn't do it because I had ulterior motives. You and Satou are friends, I didn't want you guys to have a falling out because of me. I didn't consider your feelings and for that I'm sorry. I'll turn down Satou's invitation." Laying his faults before her, he displayed an unnatural sincerity Kei couldn't brush aside.

"So? What are you going to do now?"

"Can I buy you lunch tomorrow?"

†

The next day, as promised, the two spent lunch together. The night before, he'd informed Satou that he wouldn't be able to get lunch with her. That had been the first step. Now the second step was to gain Kei's forgiveness.

Although she'd been angry the day before, it had quelled quite a bit overnight. The two got lunch together and sat down. Kiyotaka ate a simple lunch while Kei was enjoying the most expensive item on the cafeteria menu.

Once they had finished eating, they moved outside and strolled through the facility together.

"You're not off the hook yet you know." Kei reminded him.

"Yeah I know."

"But this is a good start. For the rest of the week you'll have to do as I say."

"If it'll make you feel better."

"Good." She said with a happy look. "Now sit with me. I want to show you something."

They sat down at a bench outside. Moving closer beside him, Kei shared her phone screen with him. It was a photo of her in a dress.

"So…how does it look." She averted her gaze. He picked up the hint.

"You look pretty." The tips of her ears started heating up.

"…I have more if you want to see." He nodded.

Swiping her finger, she showed him clothes she'd bought recently and eagerly chirped away about her feelings about the clothes while asking what he thought of them. Not sure what to say he would give her a nod or agree with her. When she was on her tenth dress, Kiyotaka spoke up.

"That looks cute."

Kei's eyes lit up and a small blush appeared across her cheeks when she heard that. Quickly she swiped to all her favorite outfits and explained in detail about her thought process in picking it out. As the conversation continued, Kiyotaka unknowingly let out a smile. The way Kei so passionately spoke about the things she liked made him feel something new. This side of her was very cute. Attentively listening to her, their conversation continued smoothly and ever so slightly, a warm atmosphere began to form around the two. An atmosphere that gave the opposite feeling to a certain girl with dark magenta and wavy hair.

†

Curious as to why Kiyotaka had cancelled on her, Satou had decided to spy on him. At first, she felt rage that he'd chosen Kei over her, but as the minutes ticked by, it soon turned to jealousy then sadness. Why wasn't it her? Just how many times had she imagined herself doing the same thing with him only to see someone else take her place. The way he was acting with Kei, he'd never acted with her. The smile he made while Kei eagerly waved her hands around was so authentic. The attention he was giving Kei was so natural that it made it seem like the way he looked at her was two dimensional. She'd never seen him be like this with her. It hurt. Before that feeling could show itself on her face, she disappeared without a trace.

Chimes sounded throughout the school to signal the end of lunch and the two headed back to class, Kei making Kiyotaka promise to continue where they left off after class was over. Meeting up for the second time in the day, the two picked up their previous conversation. After about an hour, Kei's phone suddenly buzzed. Remembering she had made plans previously, Kei reluctantly left to go study in the school library. With no reason to linger any longer, Kiyotaka went to his room. He exited the school and arrived at the dorm.

Just as he was entering the staircase, he was stopped.

"Ayanokouji-kun?" A girl's voice came from behind him.

†

Suddenly finding himself walking back with Satou, a strange awkwardness filled the atmosphere. Neither was talking and he didn't know what to say.

"Why Kei?" Disturbing the silence with a question, Satou stopped him just as they approached the dormitory.

"Huh?" The question had come out of nowhere.

"Why didn't you choose me?" She looked up with pleading eyes.

"I'm cute and really fun to be around. I can make you food and I won't get in your way. I'm not clingy and you won't ever see me messing around with guys." Satou continued to list off all her good qualities but the distance between the two didn't get any closer.

"I know, try going out with me just once more. I'll show you that we belong together." A desperate look washed over her face. Her words no longer sounded like requests but pleas. Satou was a good person and she did have all the qualities she'd listed previously. She'd make a great girlfriend yet it didn't feel right.

"Satou, that's enough." He said sternly.

"I've already made my decision. You're beautiful and have a great personality but the way I feel around Kei, I don't think anyone else can replicate it. I'm sorry but I can't go out with you."

"Even if I beg and plead, would you still say no?" Clinging onto a strand of hope, she didn't give up.

"…"

"If you don't like the way I am, I'll change."

To go to such lengths for him, it made him feel weird and not in a good way.

"I'll change, so won't you say you will?"

He lowered his gaze to the floor. The weight was immeasurable, but he couldn't say yes. Even if tears were dripping from her eyes, even if she was begging and pleading, even if she was going so far as to change herself to his liking, he couldn't say yes.

"I'm sorry but I can't."

Satou's eyes wavered and tears lined her eyes. She apologized for wasting his time and promptly left for her room as tears marked her tracks.

Kiyotaka took a deep breath then exhaled. She really liked him more so than he realized. Uneasiness filled his chest. So, this was rejection, it didn't feel very good, but he didn't have the luxury of waiting around. There was one more thing he had to do.

"You can come out now."

**CLANG**

The noise came from behind the dorm's janitorial storage shed.

From behind the brick wall appeared Kei.

"Weren't you supposed to be at the library?"

"I was walking over there but when I saw her with you, I couldn't just leave it alone," she stammered trying to explain everything.

Kiyotaka shook his head. "Have some faith will you."

"Sorry." She apologized a voice that was neither quiet nor loud. Looking at him, his words rang in her head. She couldn't be replicated; in other words, she was special to him. Irreplaceable. When was the last time someone had felt that way towards her? She couldn't remember.

"It's fine," he reassured her as he ruffled her hair playfully.

The corners of her mouth turned up into a bashful smile. How could she not, after all, she was happy. Happy that he had rejected Satou. Happy that he said he cherished her, and happy that he chose her over another.

"Let's go inside now."

She grabbed his arm before he could take a step away.

"Can I come over?"

†

The minimalist and fairly neat room didn't seem like anything special to Kiyotaka, but it felt completely different to Kei. An odd excitement filled Kei when she walked into the very normal room. Kiyotaka watched as she looked around his room and inspected his belongings. Finally done searching the place, she took off her shoes and placed them on the floor. Falling back-first onto the bed she patted the space beside her. _**When did she get so bold?**_ Kiyotaka wondered while he laid on the bed beside her.

"Thank you." She whispered genuinely.

"For what." As far as Kiyotaka knew, she had no reason to be thanking him. In all honesty she had more of a reason to hate him.

"Everything. When I'm in trouble you help me. When I'm in danger you protect me. When I'm scared, you reassure me. When I don't feel good, you look out for me. I don't think I'll ever be able to repay you, but I still want to thank you from the bottom of my heart." Nuzzling her head onto his chest, she let herself grow comfortable and for the first time in what felt like forever, she let down her guard.

"I-I love you." She said shyly while hugging his chest.

Kiyotaka's eyes widened. It wasn't the first time she'd said it but even so the weight of her words surprised him. Out of anybody else in the world, Kei was probably the only one who harnessed such powerful feelings for him. If it was her, maybe he could trust in her love.

"...me too," he whispered.

Laying her head on his arm she stared at his face, examining every part of it. Separated by no more than a few inches Kei gazed into his eyes and Kiyotaka hers. The next thing he knew, they were no longer separated. Tender lips pressed against his. Staring at the girl before him, surprise turned into sweetness and he softened his expression. Lips parted flushing both of their faces. Realizing what she'd done, Kei's face became bright red.

"Sorry! I don't what I was thinking." She frantically tried explaining herself but it didn't really matter to Kiyotaka. He let out a chuckle.

"Why are you laughing?!" Kei said half angry and half worried.

He continued laughing.

"What's so funny!" Angry now, she jabbed him in the side.

"Ow. Well, seeing you act so cute, how could I not?" At the same time, he placed his hand on hers.

Using his arms like a seatbelt, he locked her into his embrace. Caught off guard the usually sassy Kei was speechless.

"...Mou, you could have just said that instead."

To that statement, Kiyotaka responded by planting a kiss on her forehead, Kei followed up by pushing him down on the bed. After playfully pushing each other around in between kisses for a while, Kei rested her head on his arm, while Kiyotaka stroked her hair.

Before they knew it, two hours had passed. As bold as Kei was, she wasn't quite ready to sleep over at a boy's place. Reluctantly she got up from her favorite pillow and stole a final kiss before she left.

"Can I come again" she asked, her hand on the doorknob.

"Only if you agree to be my girlfriend."

†

The following day their class was bustling with noise. The girls were gossiping and the boys were huddled up together. The classroom door slid open and the once noisy classroom went to pin drop silence. Kiyotaka walked through the door. Eyes followed him as he walked to his seat.

As soon as he set his bag down, Ike approached him.

"Yo, Ayanokouji." He called out with a mischievous grin.

"What's up Ike?" Ayanokouji asked with a confused look.

"Don't "what's up" me. You know what I'm here for right?" Ike said with a bit of a frustrated look.

"No, not really."

"I saw it, you know. You always seemed so uninterested in girls, but having one over so late in the night, especially Hirata's ex? I misjudged you man. Never thought you were such a player, but then again seeing how quick Karuizawa was to get with Hirata, it must have been easy to get a girl like her. After-"

The squeaky sound of a chair sliding back interrupted him but he paid it no mind.

"After all girls like those-"

A hand came out of nowhere and smacked Ike across the face, sending him tumbling backwards.

"Don't ever talk about my friend that way." Shinohara said, her eyes red with rage.

As if on cue, the door of the class opened and in walked Kei. Everyone's gaze shifted towards her abruptly enough to stop her in her tracks. She looked around nervously trying to make sense of why she'd become the center of attention. Parting through the sea of eyes, Kiyotaka walked towards her. Taking her hand in his, he cleared his throat.

"I guess I should clear things up. We're going out now. It's perfectly reasonable for my girlfriend to come over to my place. Also, since you didn't know any better Ike, I'll let it slide, but if anyone ever calls Kei an 'easy girl' I won't take it sitting down." He wasn't loud but the entire class got the message.

"Wow."

Haruka began clapping her hands, soon after the rest of the girls and some of the guys joined in on it as the class began looking at newly proclaimed couple in awe.

The glamorous atmosphere didn't last forever. As soon as Hirata entered, he took in the situation and worked his lyrical magic so that nobody would have any ill will.

Right after the last class before lunch ended, Haruka went out with Sakura to get food somewhere together. Kei was dragged along by some girls in the class so they could hear the insider information. On the other side of the classroom Akito and Keisei also made their leave together.

"How unfortunate, your friends and girlfriend have all left. Honestly, I didn't think you were capable of such an intimate human relationship. I guess people can change." Horikita said to Kiyotaka with an amused look.

"Yeah, now if only you could change that attitude of yours as well." Hearing that Horikita began to make another snide comment but the arrival of the ever-so-eager Sudou ruined her plans. While Horikita battled Sudou, there was a different battle of words happening elsewhere.

On the track field, two girls were sitting together. Tiny sobs came from Sakura as Haruka rubbed her back. "It'll be okay Sakura. There are plenty of other people, you'll definitely find someone." Sakura shook her head. "There's nobody else." Haruka let out a sigh and continued to console Sakura, unaware that at the same time Shinohara was doing the same to Satou.

By the end of lunch two broken hearts had been repaired to an extent. To draw the curtains on this chapter of her life, Satou had decided to take some time away from her friends. Sakura's biggest regret had been her failure to confess. With the help of Haruka, Sakura met with Ayanokouji after school. It was then she laid her feelings bare, Ayanokouji thanked her but couldn't reciprocate them. After a long hug and tears, they were able to remain as friends as per both of their wishes.

The last event of the day was a series of text messages between the newly announced couple with the last message being:

_**Then I'll see you Friday for the date Kiyotaka :) XD**_


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

It was finally the long-awaited on Friday. The day of their first date. Classes had just finished up and Kei sped to her room. The week had been intense. There was the proclamation to the class, which was something she'd never forget. Thanks to Hirata's intervention, the whole thing with Ike had blown over quite nicely. However, there was another smaller thing that had happened of equal importance. Satou had left their friend circle without a word. At first, she avoided Kei, but soon enough she began to avoid their mutual friends. With nobody else left she was alone. Kei would often see her walking straight to the dorms after class and occasionally turning down advances from other guys. She had felt bad but there was bad blood between them.

Now that the emotional week had finally gone by, she could relax. Or so she thought. Picking out her outfit for the date had become a bigger problem than she'd initially thought. Nothing worked. As Kei scrambled through her room littered with clothes to find the right outfit, Ichinose and Kiyotaka were strolling to the mall together.

Ichinose was just passing by when she ran into Ayanokouji. They began chatting when she asked about his weekend plans. She was shocked to hear about his date, but what he said next was incomparable to her earlier shock.

"I can't believe you Ayanokouji-kun! You were really going to go on your first date in that?!" Ichinose rubbed her temples in frustration at Kiyotaka's tasteless choice of clothing, his school uniform.

"Is it really that bad?" He asked looking at his outfit again.

"It's terrible! Ahhh, looks like I'll have to step in, it wouldn't be fair to Kei to leave you as you are. You're getting a makeover." With that Ichinose Honami dragged Kiyotaka into the school mall.

†

"That should do it." Ichinose wiped her brow as she straightened Kiyotaka's collar. "My work here is done, as payment for my services you can get by if you tell me everything that happens."

"Doesn't look like you'll budge on that one huh.

"Nope"

"Alright. Anyway, thanks for your help Ichinose."

"I'd hate myself if I didn't. It was almost mean to Karuizawa. I have other matters to attend to so I'll take off."

Ichinose slapped Kiyotaka on the back.

"I look forward to the details" she ended with a mischievous grin before heading off.

Looking at his clothes again, Kiyotaka couldn't help feeling strange. He was wearing a light pink dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up in tandem with black suspenders and matching black jeans. For shoes, he was wearing some nice khaki flat bottoms. Ichinose's taste was a bit strange but she knew better than he did.

Kei and he had agreed to meet up inside the mall near the arcade on the first floor at six. Due to Ichinose's intervention, he was there ahead of time, almost half an hour early to be precise. With ample time to kill, he did what any teenager would do and messed around on his phone.

20 minutes later…

**BOO!**

He'd been so absorbed in an article he cut himself from his surroundings. Consequently, the surprise and volume of her voice were greater, in other words, he fell backward.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry. Are you okay?" She said as she hurriedly knelt beside him.

"Yeah, it's nothing." He said lifting himself up with her aid.

"How do I look?" She did a little spin in place to show off her clothes.

She was dressed rather nicely. Wearing a light blue spaghetti strap, khaki heels, and a matching khaki handbag stood Kei. Her nails were done with clear nail polish and she'd put on light makeup. It wasn't too much nor too little.

"You look...perfect." It was true. He liked everything.

"Thanks." She concealed a blush. "You look really good too." She said admiring his choice in apparel.

"Thanks, I had some help though." Looking at himself and her again, it felt like they were going to a formal event. "We may have gone a bit overboard though don't you think?"

"Yeah, maybe a bit."

"Want to get going?"

"Wait a sec. Before we leave, I want to take a photo while the sun is still setting." Kei quickly took out her phone.

"Come here really quick." Kei ushered him to hurry. Once he was in the camera's frame, Kei quickly took a selfie of the two of them. A few swipes later, she looked up at him with a frown.

"You don't have snapchat, do you?"

"What's that?" He asked with a blank expression.

"Whatever, give me your phone." She took his phone and in a matter of seconds, he had an account, bitmoji and a new lock screen photo.

"Now we both have a picture of our first date." She flashed a cute smile his way.

"Are you ready to go now?" He asked. She nodded, slid her arm around his and they began walking arm in arm.

†

Their destination was a mini-golf park in one of the outdoor parts of the mall complex. The line wasn't very long and it wasn't very busy even on Friday nights. There was also a park connected to it with some beautiful gardens and trees. Kei was glad she'd chosen it but the stares from other students made standing in line a bit awkward. Fortunately for Kei, none of them approached either of the two and they were able to make it to the entrance without trouble.

"How can I help you?" The cashier asked.

"Can we get two clubs and a set of balls?" Kiyotaka answered.

"We have a special going on right now if the two of you are interested. Would you like the couple's package of 2 hours for 1750 points?"

"Yes, we would like the couple's package," Kei said with a grin. They split the cost and entered the facility.

Colorful lights glittered across the park. They walked around the place looking at the different courses. From dragons to clowns, there was a course for every theme imaginable. A few more minutes of looking around later, they settled down. It was a darkly lit but brilliantly colored attraction with a galaxy theme. Various stars and Nebulae blocked the path of the ball from crossing the par 5 course. Kei started off and struck the ball high enough that it passed the trough of asteroids until it bounced off a red giant and rolled safely to level ground.

"Yes!" Kei gave a little fist pump.

"You're next Kiyotaka." Kiyotaka nodded and moved over to the starting location.

After placing the ball on the tee, he lifted his club to swing. Kei stared intently at him.

_**What's he waiting for? Is he calculating the ball's trajectory to find the best way to swing? No, he's probably aiming to take the hole in one swing.**_

Seconds passed and the club still hadn't swung.

_**Any moment now, he's going to swing and it'll land right in the hole.**_

A whole minute had now passed.

"Kei, would now be a bad time to say I've never played this before?"

_**What?**_

Kei stared at him blankly. The student who was the mastermind behind the class couldn't play mini golf. She tried stifling a giggle but she couldn't contain it for long. A burst of laughter came from Kei. Kiyotaka idly stared at her as she laughed for seemingly no reason.

"What's so funny?" Kiyotaka asked.

"You can't play golf?!" She said in between laughs.

"Yeah." He said with a straight look. At this point, Kei had calmed down.

"Don't worry, I'll teach you." She said as she wiped a tear from her eye.

After a drink of water, Kei began her lesson on golf. First, she explained the rules then once he understood that, she showed him how to play. She started off by demonstrating how to swing the club. After a few example swings, Kiyotaka tried copying her.

"No No No. Your posture is all wrong." She moved his legs farther apart then adjusted his grip.

"Try it now." he nodded and swung the club.

"Come on, now the swing is all wrong." Standing behind him, she grasped his hand and swung the club the same way instructors often did with attractive students. Their posture, while confusing to many bystanders ended up being successful in teaching Kiyotaka. Nodding her head in approval and their game of golf began once more.

†

"HOW?!" Kei exclaimed as she tallied their final scoreboards. Kiyotaka, although he had a rocky start, had beat his experienced girlfriend by five points. Kei looked up from the scorecard for some explanation but her boyfriend simply shrugged.

"You must have taught me well." He answered.

Kei's head swung down dejectedly.

"Don't get too down, if your ball hadn't landed in the sandpit on that last hole, you would have easily won." He consoled. Kei let out a sigh then agreed with him. Never again would she try to do a trick shot.

†

The neighboring park was brightly lit exposing the bright petals of the sakura trees. Sitting at the root of one of these pink trees Kei held a smoothie and Kiyotaka the parfait he'd gotten with Kei before they exited the golf course.

Kiyotaka scooped up some of the white and red dessert with his spoon and brought it to his lips. Kei's head quickly bobbed in to encapsulate the spoon. Her sparkling purple eyes met his. She gave a bright smile and bobbed her head back out leaving only an empty spoon.

"Kei?"

"Hmm?" She said with her mouth full.

He moved his parfait towards her. "Do you want some?"

"No." Her answer was quick.

Moving his dessert back toward him he scooped some up once more. Once again mischievous violet eyes met his then jerked away leaving an empty spoon.

"Do you want to try some?" He asked again.

"I can't, my hands are full." She said playfully while holding her smoothie with both hands.

He caught on and scooped for the third time. This time however he brought the spoon to her lips. Kei gleefully smiled and ate his offering.

An ever-rare smile crossed his lips. Alternating between himself and Kei the contents of the parfait quickly depleted. He was a bit hungry but, he was happy that Kei was enjoying every last bit of it.

Once their desserts had been finished, Kiyotaka motioned to gather the trash but stopped when he felt a soft pressure on his shoulder. Kei rested her head on his shoulder and brought his outstretched hand back in. Weaving her fingers between his, she inched closer beside him until she was snug.

"Kei," he called.

"What?" Her eyes met his.

"I...I... love you." The word, still somewhat alien to him, had made its way through his vocal throat. That didn't mean it wasn't true though. He hid it well, but recently, whenever he saw her, he began to feel warm inside. When they kissed, or hugged, or even linked arms, he felt something strange but pleasing inside of him. If this wasn't love then he didn't know what was.

That was the first time he'd, no, anyone had said that they loved her with such emotion. Tears began to form around Kei's eyes but before they could be seen she hugged Kiyotaka, toppling him onto the ground.

"I love you too. I love you so much." She cried happily as she lingered over him.

Kei rolled over to the side and laid her head on his arm so that they were face to face on their sides.

"To be perfectly honest with you all of this feels unreal." Her eyes shifted downwards. "Up until now, I never thought that other people felt anything but hate, or jealousy, or pity for me. I was bullied by my classmates, shunned and even betrayed by those I called friends. I was alone and powerless to do anything without help. Whenever I could find someone to leech off of to protect myself I would, but it didn't change anything. The cold stares didn't go away, they just got worse. I changed schools multiple times only for it to restart." Her eyes began to water, but she quickly wiped them before anything could form. "That's how it had always been until I met you." She looked back at him. "Thanks...for loving me." She said with tender eyes and a quivering voice.

As soon as the words left her lips, Kiyotaka pulled Kei in for a hug.

"You're my girlfriend, of course I'm going to love you. So, don't cry anymore." He said calmly. He brought her back in front of him, she nodded, and he wiped her tears away.

The rest of their date was spent with Kei snugly laying her head on his shoulder as they sat under the tree watching sakura petals dance in the wind.

At ten they decided it was time to head home. Standing up, Kiyotaka offered Kei his hand. Taking it Kei stood up. They linked fingers and arms then headed home.


	5. Chapter 5

**Ch. 5**

_**Thanks for all the love in the reddit comments and reviews thus far it really makes the hard work worth it. Special shout out to Kei purist Jason25th for plugging this in the discord, there may have been others but every time I get on there's like 100 messages I've missed out on and I only saw Jason's. Moving onto this chapter I think this is a pretty good chapter and prelude to the next. Well without further ado here's chapter 5.**_

**(Kei P.O.V for the chapter)**

† † † † †

[Saturday] (The day after their date)

I slowly opened my eyes, wiping the rheum from my eyes. I got up and habitually reached for my phone. With a touch to the screen, the lock screen appeared. Lightning ran through me from the top of my head to the tips of my toes. Last night's events raced through my mind and as proof they weren't just a dream, the picture of the two of us as staring at me from my phone. There I was grinning arm in arm with Kiyotaka. My face went red with embarrassment.

_**How could I have been so brazen?**_

Ahh mou, even my brain felt like it was blushing just from remembering. Despite being red to the tips of my ears I felt really happy. It was the same feeling a paleontologist had when they discovered a fossil. It was the feeling of really wanted to explore everything right away. I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to race down to Kiyotaka's room at that moment, but even so, I wanted to take things slow. I wanted to cherish every moment thoroughly.

I spent the rest of the weekend doing whatever homework was assigned occasionally getting distracted by the thoughts of my boyfriend and texts from Matsushita and other girls.

†

[Monday]

I was walking out the door when I caught a glimpse of him walking a few meters in front of me. For some reason or another, my eyes were glued to the sight of his broad shoulders. As if he sensed my gaze, he stopped walking and turned around. My eyes met his and that was when it happened. You know that feeling where your heart begins going Ba-Dump at the sight of your crush. Yeah, that. He flicked his head in his direction to call me over. There was no hesitation. I immediately ran to him and greeted him with a running hug. He stumbled back a few steps at impact but managed to receive it.

"That's an interesting way to say good morning don't you think." He said while returning the hug.

"You don't like it?" I teased.

"I didn't say that, but our classmates may feel differently." He said while looking at the students who had witnessed everything.

It was at this point I saw several of the male students scowling at him while some of the girls blushed at my PDA. I quickly detached myself from him and rushed to the classroom

As usual the classroom was filled with conversations, none of which were too loud with the occasional yell from Sudou. After a quick chat with Matsushita and company class started for the day.

†

A yawn escaped from my lips as I stretched my arms as soon as Chabashira sensei ended class for the day. As I began to pack my things, a pink bob poked its head through the door.

"Karuizawa-san, is it ok if I borrow your boyfriend for a second?" The pink bob or Ichinose Honami asked me.

"Huh? Yeah sure." I signaled the presence of the guest to Kiyotaka who let out a sigh and began packing up soon after.

"Alright now spill the beans," I heard Ichinose excitedly ask Kiyotaka as they left together. In my mind, I wished him the best. After the mental prayer, I got up, said bye to the girls and left for home. Without any plans for the day, I headed to my room or at least that was the plan.

I had just departed to the dorms when someone called out to me.

"Kei!" I turned around to see Satou a few steps behind me. We hadn't talked to each other for a while, what could this be about? Wanting to talk in private, Satou and I went into a nearby alley between buildings. I'd rather have gone somewhere else but she said she was in a rush.

"What is it Satou?"

She looked at me eye to eye and after a deep breath, she finally spoke.

"I'm sorry."

_**Huh?**_

"I shouldn't have fought with you over a guy then avoided you, Shinohara, and Matsushita after I got rejected. I was jealous. You're so much prettier than me and everything is going your way while nothing was going my way. I couldn't come to terms with it so I left."

I stared in disbelief.

"At first I thought it was fine but I was wrong. Nothing was fun anymore, everything felt colorless. I tried to go out but every time I would I realized I had nobody go out with. The only people who talked to me were random guys trying to get my number because I was by myself. It was horrible. I was all alone and nobody cared about me. I lost everything." Tears began running down her cheeks.

"I realized how much you guys mean to me. I was wrong for doing what I did. I'm so sorry. Can we go back to before?" She asked with puffy eyes.

By this point my eyes had also become watery. My feelings for my friends had welled up inside of me. I was a fool for not doing anything to help her.

"Of course! I missed you too!" Without hesitating I hugged Satou.

What followed next were streams of tears from the two of us as we confessed our sins and asked for forgiveness from each other. Some more tears and hugs later we made up. Satou's next objective was to apologize to the others and mend things between them.

I waved her goodbye as she left to go find the others. I wiped my tears and began walking out of the opposite end of the alleyway. Just as I was about to exit, I caught a flash of white in the distance coming my way. A blizzard of fear ran down my spine..

_**Why was Sakayanagi here?**_

Kiyotaka had warned me about her, I shouldn't get involved with her he'd said because if I did my past could be revealed. Sakayanagi, along with another student were getting closer way.

_**I have to move.**_

My body disobeyed and remained frozen in place while the two grew closer.

_**MOOOOOOOOOOOVE**_

Using every fiber of my being I broke from my trance and immediately hid in a dumpster.

"Are the camera's online?" I overhear Sakayanagi asking Kamuro.

"Yeah. We'll expose Ayanokouji today won't we? I'm surprised you're okay with this method of violence though, weren't you obsessed with him?" Kamuro asks as they arrived directly in front of the dumpster.

"He's no longer..." The rest was in audible as they had gone too far away.

I let out my breath. I'd been holding it in ever since I'd gotten in the dumpster. My clothes and hands were all covered in grime but that wasn't important. Kiyotaka was in danger.


	6. Chapter 6

**Ch. 6**

_**This chapter was probably the fastest and most interesting chapter I wrote. The ideas came like a stream and I think I was able to give it a lot of action and suspense. Enjoy.**_

† † † † † †

[Last Thursday]

_**How dare he? And with a parasite at that?! What happened to the man I once knew? The man who slew the dragon without batting an eye. The man who cared nothing for others and walked over the corpses of his fallen comrades in that room. The man who would give me the greatest battle of wits I'd ever have and become mine with my victory. Where did that man go?**_

These thoughts rushed inside of Sakayanagi's head as she saw them walking together hand in hand. The day she'd heard the news of his relationship with Karuizawa, she didn't believe it but now she had to. Under the calm expression she was showing on the outside, a fire of rage was burning. He'd betrayed her there was no longer any reason to keep him to herself. She'd throw him to the wolves.

†

[Monday]

Ichinose and Ayanokouji were seated at a table in the food court near the store Airi got her camera fixed. A large parasol covered them from the heat however it did nothing to help cool Ichinose down.

"What happened next!" Ichinose excitedly asked Kiyotaka who had just reached the point in the story where he was leaving the mini-golf arena.

"I'm getting there. Do you mind if we move somewhere else?" At the table behind theirs, three men had sat down. The same three men that had been following him since he'd entered the mall. He slid a napkin to Ichinose informing her of them.

"Sounds like a good idea." They left their table and began walking to a corner of the mall, their pursuers followed soon after. Nonchalantly they walked to a less populated corner of the mall while making small talk. If they could get them to a secluded area, they could lure out the assailants and confront them as their actions would more visible to the cameras of the mall.

With each passing minute, they came closer to their destination-the bookstores and stationary area of the mall-however there was something off.

"It's too busy." Ichinose, who had been everywhere due to her amazing skills in socializing, knew that there shouldn't be this many people here. Usually only a handful of people were here and that had been the case every time she'd come here. Even if this was a prime hour there were still too many people present. No, wait. She looked around once more. Dread washed over her face.

This was bad.

"Ayano-"

A man bumped into Ayanokouji and another walked in between the two before the words could leave Ichinose's throat. The next second Ichinose Honami had disappeared.

†

Right as a man had bumped into Ayanokouji, Ichinose, who was on his right, was jerked to the side by a middle-aged man. Immediately after a horde of people filled in her space. A hand covered her mouth before she noticed it.

_**No, it can't be. They were all in on it?**_

As she was being dragged away the sudden realization hit her like a bolt of lightning. It all made sense. This was why it was so busy and why nobody seemed to notice her being kidnapped. She resisted with all her might and bit the assailant's hand.

"AGH"

The man's hand reeled back in pain.

"Why you!"

She cried out, "AYANO-" The man covered her mouth again and slammed her onto the ground headfirst. Her skull bounced off the hard flooring, the pain rendered her unconscious. The man signaled the surrounding men to come over. He looked back at her unconscious body. Blood was streaming down her head but he was relieved she wasn't making a fuss anymore. He very quickly wrapped her head to prevent any blood from spilling then picked her up. The pink-haired girl disappeared into an alley.

†

Ayanokouji first noticed something was wrong just after Ichinose did. Before it could all come together, she'd disappeared and he was in the midst of a horde of people. He stepped atop a bench but the pink-haired girl wasn't in sight, but he did notice something. Amidst the horde of people, a group of men had stopped walking around where Ichinose had gone missing.

"AYANO-" A muffled scream came from near _the front _of the people walking in the mall? It was a completely different location from where the group of men had stopped. He'd almost been baited. He immediately began running to the source of the scream.

It took him naught but a few seconds to arrive however there was no trace of her. He scanned the area with an absolute focus. He absorbed every bit of information his eyes could perceive while his brain overclocked itself to process everything. Two seconds passed and he found his hint. A few feet in front of him laid a trampled strand of hair marked with a hint of red. The length and color revealed who it belonged to; the blood told him what had happened. She was here. There were only a few places she could have been taken. He'd seen no store doors open so those were out. The bathrooms were too far away for her to be taken away. It was then he remembered what he'd noticed earlier.

"A group?" he quietly muttered.

Ichinose was being moved within the crowd? That had to be it. He jerked his head towards the very front of the ever-moving crowd. Some members were making a left after the stores ended and exiting while others were going ahead. He ran to the exit, there was no way the perpetrators would risk more exposure to the cameras in the malls.

He went full speed and zoomed out the doors. Several feet ahead of him he saw a pink blob rounding a corner. Without stopping his sprint, he rushed into the alley.

The first thing he saw was a horde of men with masks on their faces. There were over ten of them. Seeing him, they parted in the middle revealing Ichinose seated on a chair, blood dripping from her head and nose, a knife to her throat.

"Ayanokouji is it? Your friend here put up quite the fight. If you want her back, you'll have to fight your way through. Don't feign ignorance about being weak, I know all about it. Of course, you're more than welcome to leave as well. I'd love to spend some quality time with your pretty little friend here." The man who held the knife issued Ayanokouji an ultimatum. Right after he'd finished speaking the masked men quickly closed the junction and raised their fists.

Ayanokouji weight the actions against the consequences then asked himself something no other person would have.

_**Is Ichinose really that important?**_

Ichinose was a very valuable asset but was she worth this? She wasn't his girlfriend, nor his classmate. They just recently become friends that were somewhat close. Kei's face suddenly came to his mind. If he didn't do anything Ichinose would end up as scarred, if not more, than Kei. He'd promised to always save Kei and right now Ichinose was in the same position as Kei. If he couldn't save her then how could he ever hope to save Kei? Who knew emotions were such trouble?

Ayanokouji raised his fists to gave his answer. He had no time to lose.

†

Light pierced through the slits in her eyelids. The black veil behind her eyelids began to lift itself. Gray walls covered her sides and a blob of black lay directly in front of her. Suddenly she felt a sharp twinge of pain surge through her body, particularly her face. Once the pain had subsided, she brought her hand to her face, it was swollen and sticky. Her fingers were covered in a red substance she recognized immediately. The other thing she realized was that there was a knife at her throat.

**WHAM**

One of the black blobs was sent flying to her right side and crashed into the dead end that lay directly behind her. Her vision focused and she finally noticed the black blobs were actually people. She was dumbstruck such a large man had been sent flying. As if on cue, two others followed the first man. Both of them hit the wall and fell to the ground, they didn't look like they would get up for a while.

Ichinose looked back at the initial mob of men, it had dwindled. There were more men scattered all over the alley, all of them in bad shape.

**AAAAAH**

Another man was flung at the wall behind her meeting the same fate as his predecessors. The last row had been breached. A ray of sun landed in the middle of the battlefield to illuminate one man-Ayanokouji. His school uniform was torn, his face had been injured, but his eyes hadn't lost their flare. To Ichinose, it looked like a scene out of a myth. The brave knight on the battlefield would slay his enemies to rescue the princess. Ayanokouji was coming to save her, but Ichinose had no intentions of being some helpless princess.

At the same time as Ayanokouji had made an opening in the last line of defense, the knife in front of Ichinose began trembling.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING. IT'S JUST ONE MAN!" The knife-wielder yelled at the masked grunts who had begun surrounding the student from 1-C.

It was to no avail. While man after man was taken down. Ichinose looked for a way to escape, she wouldn't be a burden. Her hands were restrained but her legs were free. Trying to pull her hands free would be futile. She looked around for something to help her. The horde of defeated men behind her had been armed with knives and one of these knives was close by. Using her legs, she pulled it close, fortunately, the man beside her was too busy watching his men get beaten down.

Lifting the knife with her legs, she grasped it with her hands. Slowly she began cutting through the rope tying her hands together.

†

Ayanokouji was tired. He'd gone through around eight men and none of them were weak. To make matters worse, he was surrounded by six. Fists swung at him from the left and right. He ducked then kicked the men on the opposite sides in the gut while they were mid-swing. From behind him a knee struck his back and shoved him towards two men who had their fists reeled back. Kiyotaka jumped downward and did a kick-up. Each foot planted themselves in each of the men's groins. The two men stumbled back and Kiyotaka used the space they provided to roll backwards and do a kick-up this time to stand up. Immediately after he stood up, two more began striking at Kiyotaka. He bent his body back as far as he could and the fists swung over him. Immediately after, he grabbed a fist and swung himself over it and kicked the man to his right in the face. One down. He dropped down and lunged to the left avoiding a kick but ran into an elbow that landed in his side. He endured the pain and jumped _forward._ Rather than making space for himself, he instead kneed the man who elbowed him in the face. That was two down. The man fell to his knees allowing Kiyotaka to leap over him and kick the man directly behind the kneeling man in the face. The masked man who'd got his face bashed in reeled back in pain. Three down.

He had his chance, Ayanokouji leapt on the wall and jump kicked another man in the back of the head as he landed behind the horde of men. Two left and they made the mistake of leaving their backs exposed since they hadn't realized he'd gotten behind them. With their backs to him, Kiyotaka unleashed a volley of fists to their pressure points knocking them all out soon after. The encirclement was broken.

Sweat endlessly dripped from his brow and his breathing was ragged but at last, there was only one more man standing.

"STOP RIGHT THERE OR THE GIRL DIES!" The exclamation from the man by Ichinose stopped Ayanokouji in his tracks. With the man's attention solely focused on Ayanokouji, Ichinose took her chance.

In one swift motion, Ichinose broke through her ties and knocked the knife out of the man's hand with hers. "NOW AYANOKOUJI-KUN!"

Ayanokouji swiftly closed the distance between the man, the next second the man was sent flying into the wall behind him. Ayanokouji fell to his knees. He was exhausted. Ichinose rushed to him.

**CRACK**

Underneath her feet laid a small broken camera that was attached to one of the masked men's shirts. They were being filmed? That seemed to be the case but why? What could they want to film? She looked around. What kind of person would film their own crime. She twisted her head back to the injured student in front of her. Was it Ayanokouji? Were they trying to expose him?

"We...need...to break them...all" Ayanokouji said in between gasps for air, the mastermind knew who he was and there was only one person who knew him-Sakayanagi. He didn't know why she'd do this but it was far too dangerous to leave any cameras intact.

"I'll do it, you need to rest." Ichinose sat him down against a wall then quickly began looking through the bodies and broke the cameras. It was rather easy since they were all in the same place. It took her five minutes to find and destroy them all. She returned to Ayanokouji and began to help him up.

"KIYOTAKAAAAA!" A loud voice shrieked. Ichinose looked towards the source and sighed with relief.

From the front of the alley a golden-brown haired girl ran towards the two of them, police officers behind her. The officers apprehended the masked men while Kei ran full speed towards Kiyotaka.

"KIYOTAKA!" Tears ran down her eyes when she saw how battered he was.

"I'm…fine…don't cry." He said in between breaths.

"How'd you find me?"

Kei showed him her phone which was running snap maps.

"I…didn't know…that was a thing."

"Let's go back," she said with tears still running down her eyes.

"Ichinose-san can you help me carry him out" Ichinose nodded and the two of them lifted him up and began their exit from the alley.

The knife wielder's eyes slowly opened. How long had he been out? He looked up and saw the boy still in sight.

_**If all else fails, eliminate him.**_

The final order issued to the man from the white-haired girl rang in his head. The man put his hand in his pocket and pulled out a revolver much like those from old western movies. He cocked the gun and aimed at the boy.

Kei, whether it was out of luck or instinct, happened to look back. Her eyes widened at the sight of the revolver, but it wasn't aimed at her.

_**KIYOTAKA?!**_

A chill colder than liquid nitrogen ran through her very core. A split second later she was running toward Kiyotaka. The next second she leapt towards him.

"GUNNN!" She screamed in mid-air.

**BANG BANG**

Kei slammed into Ayanokouji who knocked over Ichinose, and two bullets burst out of the gun. Law enforcement quickly carried the three of them to cover and returned fire while retreating behind the walls.

The gunfire only lasted a few seconds. Relief swept over Ichinose. It was all over now. Beside her, an officer set down Kei against the wall. Upon removing his hands from her, he froze.

"10-52! 10-52!"

The officer shouted at the nearby officers. The police officers eyes dilated in fear and quickly began dialing a number when they heard the police code.

Ichinose and Ayanokouji looked around confused but they soon realized what the code meant when they turned around. 10-52: ambulance needed. Kei sat motionless against the wall. Her uniform was soaked with blood.

""KEI!""


	7. Chapter 7

**Ch. 7**

† † † † † † †

Perhaps it was from the pain from getting shot, or it was the fear of death that caused Kei to begin to recall the pain of her past. The pain that had changed her to the parasite she once was. It was the pain that turned her life upside-down. She thought she'd gotten away from it, but now, after all this time, its memories began to resurface.

†

It was in the third year of middle school. Using her good looks Kei had climbed to the top ranks in the class hierarchy. She was an alpha female. Never given so much power before, it quickly got to her head. Her actions became ruder and hurtful. Before she knew it, she had become what she hated. She talked down to the girls in the class and harassed them without holding back. Sometimes she singled out one of her groupies and had the others collectively bully her. Once she got tired of it, she'd have the victim to switch the following week.

Life was at its peak but that soon came crashing down. The girls had enough of her pompous attitude and misdemeanor so they decided to teach her a lesson.

It had started off as any regular day, classes were boring and the birds were chirping. Fourth period had just ended and she ran to a vending machine to get a snack. There was a line so she waited while tapping her foot restlessly, she didn't want to be late again. She made it in the locker room just as the bell rang. The locker room was rather empty, but she paid it no mind. In any case, she had to hurry. Happy she wasn't tardy she walked down the rows of black lockers with a smile on her face and stopped when she came to hers.

**WHORE**

Etched into the front of her locker, the single word stared at her.

Footsteps sounded from the entrance of the locker room as a large number of female students, still in their uniforms, entered the locker room. Slowly the students surrounded Kei on all sides. None of them were in her P.E class but she knew all of them. They were all girls she'd made fun of in one way or another.

"What's the meaning of this?" She asked nervously to the glares in each girls' eyes.

Nobody responded, instead they moved closer to her. Forming an opening a single girl walked between the rows of girls. It was her, the first girl she'd messed with-Mari. Stopping a few feet in front of her the girl looked at her with disgust.

"Mari, what're you doing," Kei asked while shifting her eyes away from the crowd.

"Oh, nothing special, you're plenty familiar with it." With that, she snapped her fingers.

Arms shot out from every direction and grabbed hold of her, then pulled her to the showers. The arms detached from her and the girls made way for Mari. They had all retaliated against Kei. Trying to find an ally in the midst of the crowd, she looked all over. Nobody showed her any sympathy, not even those she considered her closest friends. Mari walked right in front of Kei and grabbed the collar of her shirt.

"We're done with you bossing all of us around, so we decided it was only fair for us to give you a little payback." As soon as she said that, she swung Kei with all her might onto the tiling behind. Her back bounced off the ground and her head swelled with pain. Having the wind knocked out of her, she let out a gasp for air. Lifting her head, she saw a smile creep across Mari's face.

"Girls, get her," Mari said with a dark expression.

All at once, each of the 17 girls lunged at her. They tore her clothes off her until she was bare. It was then a loud double clap resounded throughout the room and the girls stopped what they were doing.

"What's this Karuizawa? Did you get hurt?" On Kei's stomach was a band-aid concealing a cut from an accident with a knife she'd had yesterday in the kitchen.

Without warning, Mari stomped her bare foot directly onto Kei's wound. Kei screamed in pain as the wound reopened. Seeing blood come from the wound, Mari smiled.

"How's that feel?"

"Stop it." Kei pleaded with her face in tears.

"NO! NOT UNTIL YOU FEEL ALL THE PAIN YOU CAUSE MEEEEEEE!"

Mari kicked Kei's wound with all her might.

From then until the period was over Mari and the other girl ruthlessly attacked her. Kei screamed for help but nobody came to her aid. Mari, in particular, focused her blows on her wound causing it to open wider and wider. By the end of the period her wound had stretched to three times the size. One of the girls planted a knife in Kei's hand as she lay unconscious from the pain and called a teacher saying she cut herself. An ambulance took her away and she got stitches and a lasting scar.

Kei would later find out that all the faculty in the gym were at a different teaching their classes about sexual education. Nobody was supposed to be in the gym. Kei had been intentionally kept out of the loop so that she would go to the locker room.

From the day she was discharged onwards, Kei would be bullied every time a chance presented itself. If anyone tried to help her, they'd be treated the same way. Unfortunately, nobody was brave enough to lend her a hand and so Kei became ostracized. Day after day she'd endure pain and humiliation. She'd become the lowest of the low.

The memory skipped forward. Kei was sitting on her bed with a knife pointed at her throat. Tears ran down her chin as she slowly brought it closer to her throat. Her hands began shaking and the knife fell to the floor. Kei fell to her knees and cried into a pillow. She was too much of a coward to go through with it. The fear of death was still far greater than the fear of going to school.

The scene changed to the day when she was on the rooftop with Ryuuen, the first day she'd truly been saved. Kiyotaka was holding her in his arms. He wore a smile that warmed her up inside. She was soaking wet but she felt comfortable. The next second, the surroundings began to go dark. A black void began moving towards them from all sides. The buildings and trees were swallowed whole, and there was nowhere to run. She blinked once and Kiyotaka, who'd just been holding her, disappeared. She was all alone. She called his name but the was no reply. She was scared. She called his name once more but the result was the same. Tears dripped from her chin as she kept calling out to him until she was swallowed whole by black miasma.

†

Kei's eyes, wet with tears that seemed to have been carried over from her memories, shot open with her lips still mouthing the name of her beloved. The first thing she noticed was an unfamiliar room coated in darkness. Where was she? She tried to look around but couldn't move. Strange tubes were attached to her arms and mouth. Everything was so scary, what was happening? With no answers to any of her questions, fear began taking hold of her. Her breaths became quicker and shallower. She began feeling dizzy and was on the verge of passing out.

"Kei everything's all right!" A voice came from her left.

The person turned her head towards them and opened the curtains. Light burst into the room and revealed Kiyotaka staring at her. Without warning, she burst into tears after seeing him. Kiyotaka quickly gave her a hug.

"I was so scared. I had a really bad dream and you disappeared. I thought I was alone again."

"That would never happen. I'm always here for you."

She clung to his shirt and took her time to calm herself. After gaining her composure she told him all about her past while he comforted her. It was something she'd never told anyone else but she wanted to be able to move on. She was scared to go back to the past but knowing that Kiyotaka was there made it easier to get it out of her system.

After she'd finished telling her story Kei began feeling exhausted and fell asleep soon after. Kiyotaka alerted the nurse that she'd regained consciousness earlier and stayed with her until she woke up again.

The next time she woke up, she found out it had been almost two days since the incident happened. She'd been shot twice and had suffered major external bleeding. While she was asleep, they'd removed the bullets and patched her up. It would take her a few weeks until she could be discharged. After their briefing was finished many of class 1-C's students came to visit Kei and Kiyotaka took his leave soon after. He had matters to attend to and crowds weren't really his thing.

†

Kiyotaka found her sitting at a table in the library reading a book without a care in the world. He walked over to her; she closed her book.

"It didn't take you long did it?" Sakayanagi said nonchalantly. "I'm guessing you want to take this somewhere else, perhaps somewhere secluded where nobody could hear a thing?"

"No, here is fine?" He sat down across from her.

"Well, I'm sure you want an explanation but I'd like to keep my secrets to myself." She mused.

"I don't care about that now. I just wanted to tell you something. As you know I don't have too many emotions I'm capable of expressing. However,…" His normally bored eyes turned ice-cold "you messed with Kei and you made me angry. Look forward to the next school exam, I'll make sure to pay you back ten times over."

He left right after leaving Sakayanagi frozen in place.

_**Wow**_

An incredible euphoria erupted inside Sakayanagi. Her cheeks burned red. She had been wrong. Ayanokouji had gotten even stronger now that he had something to protect. She couldn't wait to battle him.

† † † † † † †

_**No deaths here.**_


	8. Final Chapter

**Last Chapter**

† † † † † † † †

Kei was discharged from the hospital two weeks later, the week after that she had made a complete recovery, however, there were still difficulties to come that stood in her and the whole of Class C's way. Many ruthless tests that decorated their remaining two years but there were two events that stood out above all else. The showdown with Nagumo in their second year, and a final battle with Sakayanagi in the third year. Each of these battles was hard-fought with many expulsions on the line. An improved Horikita and Kouenji played vital roles in helping class C escalate to class A.

There was an additional event that occurred mid-way through their third year, but only Kei and Kiyotaka knew about it. Kiyotaka successfully broke away from his father.

†

[Ten years later]

"That's it for class everyone, enjoy your week break but don't forget to study for your test on the following Tuesday."

Class for the third year Liberal Studies students at Tokyo University had come to an end. Some of the students had a few more classes while others were off for the nine days of vacation they had. After packing their bags a few students ran down the stairs from the classroom located on the third story of the liberal arts building while others stayed around to talk with their professor.

A group of boys walked up to their professor, the most confident of them extended her an invitation. "Hey professor you looked beautiful today; you should come to my party tonight. It'll be a good time especially with you there."

Before the professor could respond, a group of girls interjected.

"Don't you know she's married?!"

"She's out of your league, stop bothering her every day."

"Aren't you failing this class, you should be studying rather than holding a party."

The three girls mercilessly roasted the group of boys who soon left embarrassed.

"Professor Ayanokouji it must be hard having to deal with these types of people every day huh."

The golden-haired professor chuckled.

"It's a bit annoying but I find it easy to reject them after all none of them come close to my husband." She held out her hand to show off her expensive wedding ring. The girls stared at the beautifully decorated diamond ring in awe.

"How many years have you been together?" A girl asked still fixated on the bejeweled ring.

"We've been married for three years but it's actually our ten-year anniversary in a few days."

"Woaaah. What're you going to do?" The same girl, now looking at Kei, asked.

"I don't know. Last year he took me on a week-long excursion to France so probably something like that."

"You must be rich then. What's your husband like?" One of the girls eagerly asked while noticing the expensive jewelry that had remained hidden on Kei's person until now.

"He's actually-" She began.

WOAAAAAAAH

A group of students, male and female, began shouting in awe as they stared through the windows on the left side of the classroom. A red Ferrari Enzo was pulling through the driveway and parked itself right outside of the building.

"Looks like he's here. I have to go, wouldn't want to be late for our dinner reservation. If you girls want to meet him, follow me to the car." Kei quickly packed her belongings and descended the stairs along with the three girls who routinely talked to her after class.

A tall man with brown hair dressed in a black suit leaned on the exterior of the luxury car while some students posed took pictures in front of the foreign car.

"Honey!" Forgetting they were in public, Kei raced towards her husband and leapt into his arms.

"Oh, I almost lost myself." Kei transitioned out of the hug and moved next to him. Girls this is Ayanokouji Kiyotaka…my husband." Her cheeks turned a little red towards the end of the sentence.

Over the years Kiyotaka had taken over his father's corporation and was running the company from behind the scenes. Being a figurehead CEO was much too revealing from him and required more hours that he wanted to spend working. However, his yearly salary was as high as any CEO could make. If that wasn't enough, he'd also gotten taller, just shy of six feet, and his eyes had gotten a bit sharper. All of this plus the killer car he was sporting made the girls his wife had brought swoon.

"Nice to meet you girls. Unfortunately, we're running late for dinner so I'm going to have to steal Kei from you." With that, he bid them adieu and started the car. Kei quickly said her goodbyes, placed her luggage in the trunk and hopped into the passenger seat of the two-seater. The engine roared ferociously and the car sped off into the distance.

"Jeez hun, you didn't have to go all out to pick me up today?" Kei said jokingly.

"You know I don't hold back when it comes to you." Kiyotaka calmly said while keeping his eyes on the road.

Kei's cheeks turned bright pink.

"Awww you. C'mere." Kei hugged his arm and clasped his hand. "I'm never letting you go." She said lovingly.

"Baka, I need both hands to drive."

"No, I'm not letting go."

"Fine but get on the inside. I need to put both hands on the steering wheel."

"No, I like it like this." Kei pouted.

The two quarreled back and forth until Kei won. Hands intertwined, their wedding rings sparkled side by side as they drove off into the sunset.

**THE END**

**Thank you for reading**

†

_**Some of you might be a bit disappointed that I didn't include a chapter about Sakayanagi vs Kiyotaka, but there's a reason for that. About a month ago when I was working on finishing the template, I racked my brain for days on end to come up with some test that could pit the two's wits against each other. I had several ideas but nothing was close to good enough so I decided to cut it out. That's why I only glazed over it. I hope nobody gets too disappointed; I simply wasn't clever enough to make a battle that did the two characters justice. Well that's it for this fic, thanks for reading.**_


	9. SS

**The Married Life**

† † † † † † † † †

I've come a long way. From being bullied to living off others like a parasite, I'd gotten through it all. My gaze fell upon the wedding ring on my ring finger. A warm sensation filled my body and I couldn't help but smile. I was a teacher and married to man I loved more than anything else. I was free and I couldn't be happier.

Lifting my gaze from the expensive ring, I looked to my right. My eyes softened as I looked at Kiyotaka who was sleeping soundly as he usually did at 10. I turned off the lamp on the bedside and slunk into the bed so I was facing him. My arms placed themselves around his back as if it were muscle memory and I shut my eyes.

Soft rays of sunlight landed on my face when I opened my eyes. The other half of the bed was empty as per usual but I was tucked in. I sat upright and looked at the clock, it read 6:15. I got up and went to the bathroom. I washed my hands and brushed my teeth. I washed my face with water then went downstairs. For some reason I'd been spending a lot more time making sure I looked good but because of that I'd begun to miss my chance to see my husband off. To make up for that, I now went downstairs before getting dressed.

I stepped down the last of the stairs and took in the smell of freshly brewed coffee. There was a mug on the kitchen counter with a little steam coming off of it. I took the mug in my hands and walked over to the doorway. Kiyotaka was fumbling about to fix up his tie in front of a mirror before he left for work. I set the mug down on a countertop below the mirror and grabbed the tie out of his hands. A few tugs later it was fixed.

"Thanks."

"You know what how to reward me." I said with a smirk.

I closed my eyes and puckered my lips a little. He sighed but complied as always. He leaned down towards me and pressed his lips against mine. The soft sensation lasted a little longer and then we parted. Now my morning was complete! I waved him goodbye from the doorstep until his car drove out of the driveway. I went back inside, finished the coffee and then headed back upstairs. I typically started classes at nine so I got dressed.

I opened up my phone, a picture of our wedding flickered to life. A few taps later the home screen opened up to display the selfie I'd taken with him so many years ago on our first date. I checked my schedule so I knew which classes I was teaching and what to bring. In reality I didn't need to work but I wanted to do more than the laundry and dishes so I decided to teach. He wasn't against it either so it worked out. It also allowed me to reach out to students who were like how I once was and spread a positive influence. Moving to the study I placed the appropriate materials into my bag and grabbed the keys to the Ferrari. The engine purred to life and I headed to work.

†

My watch beeped and signaling the end of the hour. It was now four, time to go home. I answered some final questions that any students had then I ended office hours. With my bags ready I left for the parking lot.

"Ayanokouji Sensei!" I looked to the right and I saw a group of girls waving to me as I was placing my bags into the trunk of my car. I waved back with a smile then drove off.

At six, Kiyotaka came home just as I'd finished making dinner. I greeted him from the kitchen as he sat down at the table. He picked up a book while he waited for me to finish. A few minutes later I brought out tonight's dinner-pasta. Once I placed the plate in front of him, I kissed him on the cheek.

"Welcome back." A soft smile spread across my face.

He didn't say anything, instead he pulled me onto his lap and returned the favor. Dinner tasted especially good today.

One steamy shower later, I changed into my nightie and went downstairs. He was reading a book as usual. Rather than sitting beside him, I laid across the sofa and promptly rested my head across his lap. He set down the book.

"How was your day Kei?"

I smiled then told him all about it as he ran his fingers through my hair. This was probably my favorite part of the day. Once I was done, the sun had set and it was time for bed except I didn't want to get up. He was used to this by now. He swiftly lifted me across his shoulder and walked up the stairs as I threw a fit.

I was swung onto the bed and he left for the bathroom to get washed up.

"Mou, you didn't have to do that." I puffed my cheeks out with a frown.

"Neither did you."

Touché.

†

Once I was finished showering and brushing my teeth I went to bed. Kei was asleep, her body somehow covering the king-size mattress. I slid into the covers and moved her sprawled about limbs a little closer to her body. She had a bad habit of knocking the covers off in her sleep which sometimes led to a cold the next day so I moved the covers across her. I slunk into the covers and shut my eyes. Out of nowhere a hand struck on my cheek shooting my eyes open. She'd rolled over and was now facing me. My surprise dissipated immediately. I kissed her forehead and placed the hazard under the covers. I shut my eyes and awaited the next day of our married life.


End file.
